초록 ▼

A tire cage is disclosed for containing the debris from a tire explosion. The cage includes a lightweight energy absorbing material for protecting structural members of the cage from tire explosion damage so that the cage is reusable. The energy absorbing material may be a metallic foam or other ope

A tire cage is disclosed for containing the debris from a tire explosion. The cage includes a lightweight energy absorbing material for protecting structural members of the cage from tire explosion damage so that the cage is reusable. The energy absorbing material may be a metallic foam or other open celled structured material that is able to absorb large amounts of kinetic energy by permanently deforming. The cage is particularly effective in containing explosions of large equipment tires 6 to 12 feet in diameter and having a stored kinetic energy in a range of approximately 900 kilojoules to 1500 kilojoules.

대표청구항 ▼

What is claimed is: 1. A method for manufacturing a tire cage for containing explosions of a plurality of tires during inflation or deflation comprising:providing an enclosure for receiving tires within an interior of the enclosure, said enclosure having at least one rigid member adjacent to at leas

What is claimed is: 1. A method for manufacturing a tire cage for containing explosions of a plurality of tires during inflation or deflation comprising:providing an enclosure for receiving tires within an interior of the enclosure, said enclosure having at least one rigid member adjacent to at least a portion of the interior for placing the tires;providing an energy absorbing material having a plurality of rigid open cells, the cells having a plurality of faces, each face of the plurality of the faces defined by a plurality of rods enclosing open space of the face; andwherein the energy absorbing material is positioned between the at least one rigid member and the at least one portion of the interior for placing the tires, wherein during an explosion of one of the tires in the enclosure, a crushing of the energy absorbing material is effective for absorbing a sufficient amount of kinetic energy of debris from the one tire so that by replacing the energy absorbing material, the at least one rigid member is effective for withstanding an explosion of another of the tires within the enclosure;transporting the tire cage without dismantling the at least one rigid member from a remainder of the enclosure; andfurther including providing operator controls outside of the enclosure for use by an operator for at least one of inflating and deflating one or more of the tires provided in the enclosure;wherein the operator controls include a user control for raising at least one of the tires provided on a tire support in the enclosure.